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The History of the Seiko Turtle Dive Watch

The Rich History of the Seiko Turtle Dive Watch

Seiko dive watches celebrated 50 years of making dive watches in 2015. It has been a long journey of watches. Mostly utilitarian and always a great price, the Seiko philosophy seems to be keep it simple. (Well at least most of the time.) The other branch of Seiko might come out with new watch models every year, some classics, many are not. The models Seiko makes up often reflect the era that they were made. The Seiko dive watch often goes years with only minor design changes. While there are many classic Seiko dive watches, we are hear to talk about the Seiko turtle.

The Original Seiko 6105 Watch

The Seiko 6105 is the stuff of legend. This watch is the grandfather of the Seiko Dive watch. While it was not the first Seiko dive watch, it was the dive watch to catch the most attention. The Seiko 6105 was featured in the now classic movie Apocalypse Now. The watch was worn by acting heavyweight Martin Sheen. The watch had a distinct style, the case has a cushion shape. During a time of smaller watch cases, the 6105 stood out, being 41mm with a 19mm watch band. The drastic difference between the watch band and the watch case also gave it an even bigger look. Even the stem at the 4 o'clock position helped give this watch a distinct look.

The Seiko 6309 Watch the Turtle Arrives

The Seiko 6309 is affectionately known as the Seiko Turtle Dive Watch. The Seiko Turtle first became available in 1977. The watch might have been inspired by the 6105 but it was a different feel. The turtle had a similar cushion shape and the now classic 4 o'clock stem, but there were many differences. The dial featured circles instead of trapezoids and the band thickness moved up the 21mm and the case size was now 44mm. The watch was simplified and made more utilitarian. The movement on the other hand was much better at 17 Jewels. The 6309 watch lasted for nearly 12 years, ending in 1988. The turtle was replaced with a now typical thinner watch case shape, the 7002 series.

The Rebirth of the Seiko Turtle Dive

After nearly 3 decades Seiko decided to reissue the fan favorite turtle dive watch. Here in the USA we got to see the SRP777 and the SRP775. These watches became an instant hit and where sold out for months. While it was great to have the reissue of the Turtle dive, we had only one color to pick, the color black. At Basel World, Seiko blew everyone away with the SRPA21, a bright blue PADI dive watch, the sister watch, a GMT Kinetic, was model number SUN065. Both models became instant hits. Here in the USA we Seiko Japan, had other colors that where not available in the USA until recently. In November 2016 the SRP773 and the SRP779 became available, one has a blue face and blue bezel, the other a blue bezel with the Pepsi Co Color scheme. Hopefully Seiko will continue this winning streak and who knows what the future will hold?